Receptacle or socket for electric lamps.



W. S. RYAN.

REGBPTACLE 0R SOCKET FOR ELECTRIC LAMPS.

APPLIGATION FILED AUG. 21, 1909.

Patented June 28, 1910.

WALTER 8. RYAN, OFNEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF THREE-FOUBTHS TO LOUIS RENE-EH3, OF NEW YORK, N.

l 3ECEP'1ACLE B SOCKET FOR ELECTRIC LAMPS.

Bpetifloaflon of Letters Patent.

Patented June 28 1am.

. Application filed August 21, 1909. 1 Serial No. 513,952.

To all whom it me concern:

Be it known t at I WAIJI'ER SJRYArI,

a citizen of the United tates, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, 5' and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Im r vemen'ts in Rece tacles or Sockets for ectr1c Lamps, of w ich the following is a speclficatlon, reference being had to the accompanying drawin s, in wh1ch a igure 1 illustrates an elevatlon of the invention; Fi .2 illustrates a ,vertical sectional view 0 that which .is shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 illustrates a plan view from the upper side as shown in Fig. l, the clamp gate and conducting wires eing removed; ig. 4 illustrates a view of the under side of the clamp plate; Fig; 5 illustrates a view of the under side of the socket as illustrated in Fig. 2. p v

-In recent years incandescent electric lamps are very extensively used for advertlsing, decorating and'exhi ition purposes. A considerable partof such use is intended to '25 be more or less permanent, in which event the cost of original installation .is not a seriout matter; but a very large part, and a continually increasing part, of such use is temporary in character, or subject to con- 80 tinual change, and for such use the methods now employed of connecting the lam socket-s 'to the frames, or structures whic support them, is expensive, both. in time and money. v

It is the purpose of this resent invention, therefore, to so construct t e receptacle and its co-acting parts, that the installation of such work may be quickly and inexpensively performed and to this end the receptacles 40 are so constructed and are provided with such appliances that they may be rigidly attached to the frame or structure which supports them in an extremely inexpensive and speedy manner, and yet with unusual solidity and reliability, and also with devices whereby the electrical connections between the lamp and the line wires may be quickly and inexpensively because automatically made.

Referring now to-the drawings, 1 represents the support for the rece tacle. In the case illustrated it is suppose to be the front piece of a sign board, or frame, which may be made as heretofore customary, in the form of a plateof alvanized iron, through which holes are ma e in proper arrangement to produce the desired lettering or fi re or decoration which the lamps when ighted are to show.

of porcelain, or other referred insulated 'material. The receptac e is rovided with the usual internal threaded s eeve 3, which \is electrically connected with the appropri- 'ateline wire, and also with the usual central contact piece 4, likewise connected with its appropriate line wire. The rear side of the socket body is supplied with two transverse grooves 5, 5, in the bottom of each of which are arranged upwardly presented cutting edges 6, 6, preferably made in the form of sharpened steel blades. They are embedded in the insulating material of the socket and are held in place by screws or equivalent devices 7, 7, which likewise convey the current from them to the threaded lining 3 and to the central terminal 4 respectively, of the socket. The grooves 5, 5, are

' made so deep that the upper edges of the knives 6, 6, extend through them only about half way and they are made of such size that the insulated conductors 8, 8, will somewhat snufly fit within them at their outer parts, an they are made so deep that when the conductors are introduced within them and pressed down until they engage with the upper edges of the knives 6,6, the C011? ductors will be inclosed about half their diameter within the ooves 5, 5, so that they cannot be deflected or turned aside during the operation of pressing them down upon the cutters and effecting the penetration of the insulating material and the completion of the electrical contacts which are about to be described. '9 represents a clamp plate made likewise of insulating material and preferably rovided with two outwardly extending ri s 10, 10, which are preferably 2 is the receptacle of the lamp. It is made 60 made concave u on theirunder side, so as to fit the cylin rical outline of the -1nsulation of the conductors, and these ribs 10, 10, extend transversely across the clamp plate 9, as'shown in F ig. 4, and in a manner to coincide with the ocation and direction of the grooves 5, 5.

11 is a threaded stem which is embedded and rigidly held in the material of the socket, projecting upwardly or rearwardly therefrom and it passes through afhole 12 (see Fig. 4) made 1n the clamp plate and is provided with a clamping nut 13 which, if

' desired, may be made in the form of a thumb nut.

In order to hold the socket firmly in the sup ort 1, it is provided with two diagona y arranged openin s or holes 14:, 14 (see Fig. -'5) one of t em s anting from right to left, and the other on the opposite side of the socket slanting from left to right; and these openings or holes are made preferably of such size as to receive an ordinary wire finishing nail 15, 16, of the appropriate size. I

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: The socket being introduced through the hole in the support 1, the finish nails 15, 16, or their equivalent are -assed through the holes 14, 14 respective until their points rest against the surface of the sup port 1. If this support, as is usually the case, be made of metal, all that Will be necessary will be to tap these nails lightly upon their heads with a hammer and the point of the nail impinging upon the metal support, will be deflected or bent and in so doing rigidly clamp the backplate to the support. If the support is made of wood, or other material that the nail will penetrate, then it will equally hold the socket inplaceyor, if desired, the extreme point of. the nail may be turned up somewhat, and then the crowd- 1 'ing action above referred to will likewise If it is desired to hold the take place. socket to its supfport with reliability against jar or other in uence likel rl'iO displace it, then if the support be metallic in character, a drop of solder, shown at 17, maybe de posited on the nail end, or if the sup ort be of wood or other similar material, tien an .ordinary double pointed tack being driven into the support straddling the filllSh nail, will serve the same purpose. Now to effect the electrical connections, the clamp plate 9 is removed by unscrewing the nut 13, the

. insulated conductors are then one on one position, care being taken that the ribs 10,

10 thereof conform in direction with the direction of the grooves 5,.5, and then the nut 13 being threaded onto the stem 11, and

- illustrated.

at will without severing the conductorsd lag- ,onally disposed holes on different sides of ings 7, which confine themin art at least and thence to the threaded soc et lining 3 and to the central contact piece 4, in a mann'er-well understood.

I call particular attention to the fact that owing to the extended area of the-edges of the .knivesiwhich I prefer to make from a.

quarter to a half inch broad, there is sufficient extent of metal contact between the edges of the knives and thewires to effect good and efiicient transmission of the current.

I wish it distinctly understood that the particular construction and arrangement of. the parts which I have illustrated in the drawings hereof and described above form no essential part of this" invention. They illustrate one form only, although a des1rable form, in which the parts maybe conturned by a wrench or pincers, or otherstructed arid arranged. It will at once he obvious to those who are familiar with such matters that the details of construction and arrangement may be very extensively altered and still the essentials of the invention be retained. I therefore do not limit myself to that which I have above described and Iclaim: 1. An electric lamp socket having diagonally disposed holes adaptedto receive a holding device, and means to connect and disconnect the electric conductors therewith 2. An electric lamp socket having the socket adapted to receive holding devices, the several holes being arranged at differing angles, for the purpose set forth.

3. An electric lam socket. having grooves for the reception 0 the conductors, bladelike devices for puncturing the insulation of the conductors located within the grooves, electrical connections between the respective blade-like devices and the respective socket terminals, a threaded stem projecting from the socket, a'clamp plate provided with an opening adapted to receive the stem, projecting ribs on the clamp plate to engage with the conductors and a nut adapted to thread onto the stem and to force the plate against the conductors.

4. An electric lamp socket having bladelike devices for puncturing the insulation In testimony whereof I. have signed my of the conductors the cutting edges of the name to this specification in the presence of blades being arranged parallel with the two subscribing witnesses. axis of the conductors and means to press WALTER S. RYAN.

the puncturing devices and the conductors v Witnesses:

together whereby the insulation will be PHILLIPS ABBOTT, punctured. JOSEPH N. PATCH. 

